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A Guide to Travelling to the Grand Canyon

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The Grand Canyon extends a whopping 445 kilometers with a width of 29 forming a giant scar-like structure in the heart of Arizona. Tourists from the United States and around the globe head to marvel at this natural wonder of layered rocks that recent studies believe to be almost 70 million years old.

How to Get to the Grand Canyon:

Both the North Rim and South Rim are the major tourist spots inside the Grand Canyon. Because of its colossal size, driving is the only way tourists can visit. The South Rim is about two hours away from Arizona and is more accessible of the two regions and gets more tourists. People who want to get away from the crowds can drive to the North Rim, which could involve several hours of driving. Grand Canyon West, or the West Rim, is another section outside of the National Park itself and is closer to reach from Las Vegas.

What are the Best Things to Do at the Grand Canyon?

Typical activities include hiking, horseback riding, camping, visiting some of the Native Indian Settlements or even testing your nerve on the Grand Canyon Skywalk on the West Rim. A number of underground caves make for an adventurous day. Some tourists like to see the Grand Canyon from a helicopter or by taking a railway tour through the region. Many of the 5 million annual tourists only hang around the day and head back to Arizona in the afternoon. The more daring ones hike through the canyon itself and camp overnight. Visiting the nearby Arizonan towns of Flagstaff, Williams, and Tusayan to get a glimpse back into the old world of the Wild West is also a fun activity.

Hike to Havasu Falls:

One of the prettiest attractions within the Grand Canyon is Havasu Falls, a 30 meter, single shoot waterfall pouring blue-green water over the rugged rocks into the pools below.

But, it’s no easy task to get to it. Anticipate a grueling 16-kilometer trek across unforgiving terrain without access to water and go deep into the Havusa Canyon. Trails are tough, dusty, and very hot. Hikers need to take their own supplies including an ample supply of water as nothing is available until you reach an American Indian village called Supai. Expect the journey to take anywhere between five and eight hours to reach Havasu Falls. Many hikers camp overnight at Supai and return the following morning.

Where to Stay in the Grand Canyon:

More overnight accommodation inside the Grand Canyon is around the South Rim and includes camping grounds, hotels, and lodgings. Others are available on both the North Rim and West Rim but may need a booking well in advance to secure a spot. Visitors looking for a place with more restaurants and a bit of a nightlife may choose to stay in one of the nearby towns such as Flagstaff or Sedona.

Plan Your Perfect Trip to the Grand Canyon:

Now that you know the essentials of planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, why not go ahead and fulfil a dream of seeing this amazing natural wonder?

Travel Secrets That Will Make Any Trip a Breeze

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There are so many travel tips you can turn to if you’re looking for ways to make traveling easier and more enjoyable. The last two Travel Tips articles I shared on this site, for example, help you travel with kids without the usual extra hassle. Nevertheless, traveling can still feel cumbersome, especially if you have to do it often (and trips are not always for fun).

Over the years, I’ve collected travel tips and secrets that make traveling easier. I’m going to share some of those secrets in this article.

It’s a Project

I was talking to a friend who just completed a project and program management degree from Brandeis University a couple of years ago and he said something very interesting. Every part of our lives – including traveling – can be treated as small projects waiting to be tackled. He also shared project management tips he acquired from the online MSMPP program and they work great for travelers.

First of all, the success of your project (the trip you’re taking) depends mostly on careful planning. The better you plan for the trip, the easier it will become. You don’t have to get every detail correct; you can leave room for some spontaneous activities in your travel plan. The basics, however, can be handled better when you plan ahead.

The same can be said for your travel expenses. Set a budget, even when you’re going on a short holiday or a weekend getaway. The budget will act as your measuring stick, allowing you to spend the right amount of money and make adjustments as you go along. It will also stop you from making those impulsive purchases you will only regret once the trip is over.

Go for Quality

Speaking of budgeting for trips, it is easy to get tempted by lucrative deals and cheap prices; they’re great and they do make traveling more affordable. However, you should never sacrifice quality in exchange for a small discount.

In fact, your deal-hunting focus should be to find the best deals on good travel amenities. Let’s say you go for a slightly more expensive but more reliable flight. You can avoid dealing with delays and other frustrating things that make traveling less fun. That’s worth spending an extra few dollars, isn’t it?

Visualize!

This is a routine I’ve been using for a while. Before the actual trip, visualize taking the trip step by step. Imagine going to the airport, going through security, boarding the plane, arriving at the destination, and so on.

Visualizing lets you discover potential issues that you may face along the way. It also lets you solve those issues beforehand, which means the entire trip will be even more enjoyable. Don’t skip the details. Trust me, it’s a fun and fruitful thing to do before a trip.

Sure, there will still be issues here and there, but you are ready for them now that you have these secrets we just discussed in this article. Use them and you’ll be surprised by how much easier traveling is.

What to do When You Get Sick on The Road

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So there you are, out on the open road having left your responsibilities behind, your head filled with excitement and adventures, plans made for experiences of a lifetime and then bang… you get ill. You can never plan for it and it will make you frustrated beyond belief but it will be important that when the worst occurs, that you take the time out to rest up, take your medicine and get yourself better as soon as possible.

Whilst being laid up may not be your idea way of spending your travel time, it is important that you keep yourself busy during this time and here are some ideas on what you can be doing whilst you are recovering.

Movie Marathon

You need to embrace the fact that there is very little that you can do in this situation other than wait for your body to fix itself. During this time why not keep yourself occupied with a monster movie marathon. Make a list of those ‘classics’ that you never got around to watching or indulge in those super long movies like Lord of the Rings now that you have the time to watch them all in full. The choice is yours but resting up and watching lots of movies will be a great way to keep you busy as you get better.

Playing Games

I really love playing games although as an adult, it feels as though there is always something more important that I should be doing. When you are resting up following an illness however, there is nothing better to do and you can button bash away to your heart’s content. You can add an adult twist to your game playing and use this time to play on casino games in the hope of winning some cash as you rest, you could even play slots at online casino site in the hope of making the best of your bad situation.

Start an Online Business

Always wanted to start your online empire? Never felt as though you had the time? Well now you have nothing but time and you have the perfect opportunity to get your online business off the ground. Making connections, arranging for jobs to be done and setting up the core structure of your business can all be done from the comfort of your bed and whilst working long hours during this time is not recommend, you can certainly use a large chunk of it to get your business together.

Sleep

The most important aspect of all during your recuperation time will be to sleep and despite how annoyed you are that you’re sick, however frustrated you are that you cannot be out and about, the most important activity that you can do during this time will be to sleep. Try to get yourself into a good sleep routine which sees you getting at least 10 hours per day as your body rests.

Getting sick on the road is no fun and nobody wants to be confined to their bed when they should be having fun, with that being said it is important that you accept it, rest and et nature take its course.